QE2 Final Calls SendOff Plans

[John Clifford]

My interest here is what, if any, plans will be made to say farewell to the ship.

The Port of Los Angeles will see the ship for the last time on Sunday, March 30, 2008.

I'm not sure if Los Angeles will have any signs or escorts out that day.
It may be up to the private boat owners to follow her on her way out of the port, just as people did when the Queen Mary 2 left on the Royal Hawaii Excursion, on February 25, 2006.

New York, on Thursday, October 16th, will say her final farewell to the ship, and Southampton will do likewise on Tuesday, November 11th.
Those cities will have "grand send-offs" planned.

Now I will have to make a listing of the days the ship will see the various ports for the last time.

 

[Jerry Nuovo]

It is my guess that the QE2's final sailing out of New York on October 16,2008 will be a repeat of April 25,2004 when there were fireworks in New York Harbor.

 

[John Clifford]

I have secured a listing of the ports that the QE2 will be at, next year.

Thus, I do have the dates for the final calls; will post that later on, probably in segments, as the first of the "Last Port Calls" occurs in November of this year, at Kusadasi (for Ephesus), Turkey, and the final one is in November 2008, at Alexandria (for Cairo/Giza), Egypt.

 

[John Clifford]

Here is the first listing of final Ports-of-Call, for the QE2.

NOVEMBER 2007:
18 Kusadasi (for Ephesus), Turkey
30 Arrecife, Lanzarote, Canary Islands

DECEMBER 2007:
8 Hamburg, Germany
12 Rotterdam (for Amsterdam), Netherlands
15 Zeebrugge (for Bruges/Brussels), Belgium
19 Ponta Delgada, Azores, Portugal
23 St. Johns, Antigua
24 Basseterre, St. Kitts
26 Willemstad, Curacao
27 Kralendijk, Bonaire

 

[John Clifford]

Here is the second listing of final Ports-of-Call, for the QE2.

FIRST QUARTER 2008

JANUARY 2008:
10 Charlotte Amalie, St.Thomas
19 Bridgetown, Barbados
24 Salvador da Bahia, Brazil
26 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
29-30 Montevideo, Uruguay

FEBRUARY 2008:
1 Port Stanley, Falkland Islands
3 Punta Arenas, Chile
6 Santiago (Valparaiso), Chile
10 Easter Island, Chile
14 Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia
18 Nuku'alofa, Tonga
21 Auckland, New Zealand
24-25 Sydney, Australia
27 Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
29 Melbourne, Australia

MARCH 2008:
2 Adelaide, Australia 7:00 am - 5:00 pm
4 Albany, Australia 8:00 am - 5:00 pm
5 Fremantle (Perth), Australia
10 Singapore
12 Ho Chi Minh City (Vung Tau), Vietnam
14 Hong Kong
17 Shanghai, China
19 Osaka (for Kyoto), Japan
25-26 Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii
26 Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii
30 Los Angeles, California

 

[John Clifford]

Here is the third listing of final Ports-of-Call, for the QE2.

SECOND QUARTER 2008

APRIL 2008:
2 Acapulco, Mexico
5 Cristobal, Panama 4:00 pm - 8:00 pm
5 Transiting the Panama Canal
6 Puerto Moin, Costa Rica
8 Montego Bay, Jamaica
10 Fort Lauderdale, Florida
29 La Rochelle (for Cognac), France

MAY 2008:
2 La Coruna (for Santiago de Compostela), Spain
12 Dubrovnik, Croatia
14 Split, Croatia
27 Florence/Pisa (Livorno), Italy

JUNE 2008:
5 Trondheim, Norway
17 Bilbao, Spain
19 Funchal, Madeira, Portugal
20 Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands
21 Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands
27 Bergen, Norway

 

[John Clifford]

Here is the fourth listing of final Ports-of-Call, for the QE2.

THIRD QUARTER 2008

July 2008:
8 Corfu, Greece
9 Dubrovnik, Croatia
10 Trieste, Italy
26 Monte Carlo, Monaco

AUGUST 2008:
3 Reykjavik, Iceland
4 Grundarfjordur, Iceland
5 Akureyri, Iceland
7 Geiranger, Norway Noon - 6:00 pm
7 Hellesylt (drop off for shore excursion), Norway
8 Flaam, Norway
9 Stavanger, Norway
10 Oslo, Norway
16 Alghero, Sardinia, Italy
17 Cannes, France

SEPTEMBER 2008:
4 Palermo, Sicily, Italy
7 Valencia, Spain
17 Newport, Rhode Island
18 Boston, Massachusetts
19 Bar Harbor, Maine
20 Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada
21 Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
23-24 Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
26 St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada

 

[John Clifford]

I took the ports information from http://www.cunard.com.

I purposely left out Dubai, since it will become the ship's permanent home, when it arrives on November 27th.

 

[John Clifford]

Now all we have to do is plan for how all of us here at ET will observe the last time we see the QE2 at our various ports.

February 24-25:
I can see Inger there with the stuffed koalas, a few swaggies' hats, and recommendations for reservations at Bilson's restaurant.

March 30th:
I will have to invite two of my friends to come up from San Diego; one of my friends has sailed on QE2 several times, and was with me on the Queen Mary 2 last month.
I'll have to make a "Farewell QE2!!" sign.

September 18th:
Tarn and Jason may rent the chase boat to cheer on the ship as she leaves Boston.
The alternative is that Jason "shadows" the ship during the stops in the Caribbean in December and January, especially after he ponders "Toronto vs. The Caribbean During Winter".

October 16:
Jim and Jerry volunteer to shoot off the fireworks from the ship, during its departure to Southampton.
Mark Baber will have to organize the "Farewell Party" at the Chelsea Brewing Company.

 

[Jerry Nuovo]

With my (bad) luck I'll probably accidentally set myself on fire shooting off the fireworks from the deck of the QE2. LOL

 

[John Clifford]

A related question: besides Jim and Jerry, and myself, is anyone going to be aboard the QE2 when she makes her farewell calls??

I will be on the ship in mid-August, on a Mediterranean Sea cruise, and thus will be in Alghero, Sardinia (Italy) Cannes, and Barcelona, when those places are visited, for the last time.

I forgot to post:
AUGUST 2008
18 Barcelona, Spain

Guess I thought Barcelona was part of the venue of one of the later Mediterranean trips.

The other venues, Lisbon and Gibraltar, will be on the FINAL QE2 Voyage.

We'll definitely have to post about what, if any, farewells are given for QE2.

 

[Kyle Johnstone]

This list is not completely accurate, but that would be due to Cunard's on-line voyage listing skipping a cruise.

After taking the Farewell to America crossing 16 Oct. '08, I stay on for a 5-night cruise that calls at Bilbao, La Rochelle, and Guernsey.

These three ports on this cruise will be final calls for QE2, and my final voyage on QE2.

That would then make four final calls on QE2 for me.

 

[John Clifford]

I also forgot to mention two other final calls:
OCTOBER 2008:
7 Edinburgh (South Queensferry), Scotland
8 Newcastle, England

I'll have to recheck the schedules, and revise the lists, especially so that Jason and Tarn can make the necessary arrangements to "shadow the QE2 in their rented motorcraft/houseboat".

Also, for New York on October 16th, we'll leave it to Jim to handle the farewell celebrations; think he can handle the fireworks.

 

[John Clifford]

Here is the updated listing of final port calls:

NOVEMBER 2007:
18 Kusadasi (for Ephesus), Turkey
30 Arrecife, Lanzarote, Canary Islands

DECEMBER 2007:
8 Hamburg, Germany
12 Rotterdam (for Amsterdam), Netherlands
15 Zeebrugge (for Bruges/Brussels), Belgium
19 Ponta Delgada, Azores, Portugal
23 St. Johns, Antigua
24 Basseterre, St. Kitts
26 Willemstad, Curacao
27 Kralendijk, Bonaire

JANUARY 2008:
10 Charlotte Amalie, St.Thomas
19 Bridgetown, Barbados
24 Salvador da Bahia, Brazil
26 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
29-30 Montevideo, Uruguay

FEBRUARY 2008:
1 Port Stanley, Falkland Islands
3 Punta Arenas, Chile
6 Santiago (Valparaiso), Chile
10 Easter Island, Chile
14 Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia
18 Nuku'alofa, Tonga
21 Auckland, New Zealand
24-25 Sydney, Australia
27 Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
29 Melbourne, Australia

MARCH 2008:
2 Adelaide, Australia 7:00 am - 5:00 pm
4 Albany, Australia 8:00 am - 5:00 pm
5 Fremantle (Perth), Australia
10 Singapore
12 Ho Chi Minh City (Vung Tau), Vietnam
14 Hong Kong
17 Shanghai, China
19 Osaka (for Kyoto), Japan
25-26 Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii
26 Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii
30 Los Angeles, California

APRIL 2008:
2 Acapulco, Mexico
5 Cristobal, Panama 4:00 pm - 8:00 pm
5 Transiting the Panama Canal
6 Puerto Moin, Costa Rica
8 Montego Bay, Jamaica
10 Fort Lauderdale, Florida
29 La Rochelle (for Cognac), France

MAY 2008:
2 La Coruna (for Santiago de Compostela), Spain
12 Dubrovnik, Croatia
14 Split, Croatia
27 Florence/Pisa (Livorno), Italy

JUNE 2008:
5 Trondheim, Norway
17 Bilbao, Spain
19 Funchal, Madeira, Portugal
20 Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands
21 Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands
27 Bergen, Norway

July 2008:
8 Corfu, Greece
9 Dubrovnik, Croatia
10 Trieste, Italy
26 Monte Carlo, Monaco

AUGUST 2008:
3 Reykjavik, Iceland
4 Grundarfjordur, Iceland
5 Akureyri, Iceland
7 Geiranger, Norway Noon - 6:00 pm
7 Hellesylt (drop off for shore excursion), Norway
8 Flaam, Norway
9 Stavanger, Norway
10 Oslo, Norway
16 Alghero, Sardinia, Italy
17 Cannes, France
18 Barcelona, Spain

SEPTEMBER 2008:
4 Palermo, Sicily, Italy
7 Valencia, Spain
17 Newport, Rhode Island
18 Boston, Massachusetts
19 Bar Harbor, Maine
20 Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada
21 Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
23-24 Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
26 St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada

OCTOBER 2008:
1 Cork (Cobh), Ireland
2-3 Dublin, Ireland
3 Liverpool, England
7 Edinburgh (South Queensferry), Scotland
8 Newcastle, England
16 New York, New York
22-27 Bilbao, La Rochelle, and Guernsey
31 Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy

NOVEMBER 2008:
1 Naples, Italy
2 Messina, Sicily, Italy
3 Dubrovnik, Croatia
4 Zakinthos, Greece
5 Athens (Piraeus), Greece
9 Vigo (for Santiago de Compostela), Spain
11 Southampton, England
13 Lisbon, Portugal
14 Gibraltar
16 Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy
17 Naples, Italy
18 Valletta, Malta
20 Alexandria (for Cairo/Giza), Egypt

The ship then arrives in Dubai on Thursday, November 27th. We'll have to see how long the planned conversion to a hotel and convention center takes, and what the ship will look like when all that is finished.

 

[John Clifford]

ATTENTION: Los Angeles-area and Southern California Listmembers:
For Sunday, March 30, 2008: a charter boat is being rented, with 100 seats available, along with food and drinks, for a cost of $75.00 per person, for people to see the QE2 take off from the Port of Los Angeles.

The contact information I received is from a friend of mine, from San Diego, who was with me on the Queen Mary 2 crossings last month.
One of the contacts for this excursion is at the Trans-Oceanic shop on the Queen Mary.

I'll have to pick up the flyer tomorrow.

 

[Michael H. Standart]

From The North jersey Media:

Legendary ships to take a bow

quote:

On a Tuesday afternoon in November of 2008, the legendary Queen Elizabeth 2 will slip out of Southampton's harbor bound for Dubai and an indelible role in maritime history.

It will be the 40-year-old Cunard ship's last cruise, capping a career that has seen this regal vessel cross the Atlantic more than 800 times, make more than 25 world cruises, carry troops to the Falkland Islands, survive bomb threats and rogue waves, and win the hearts of millions of passengers.

For the rest, click on This Hotlink

 

[Michael H. Standart]

Cruise Critic has opened up a memory book at http://www.cruisecritic.com/features/articles.cfm?ID=523 and is even soliciting contributions. Definately worth a look.

 

[Dave Gittins]

Poseidon willing, I hope to meet QE2 at sea, outside my home port of Port Adelaide, on 2 March 2008. I've only seen her from the shore before.

There's a lot of work and sailing to be done before then, so wish me luck!

 

[John Clifford]

I secured a space on a boat that will escort the QE2, when the ship leaves the Port of Los Angeles, for the last time, on Sunday, March 30th.

 

[Mark Robert Hopkins]

Here's yet another legend being lead out to pasture:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080107/ts_afp/britaintravelshippingqe22

[Moderator's Note: This message, originally posted as a separate thread, has been moved to this pre-existing one where the same subject has been discussed. MAB]